Sansho the Bailiff

"More than any other Mizoguchi film, Sansho the Bailiff is entitled to be described as 'Shakespearean.' Its themes are universal, it’s characters embrace all walks of life and morality. The film’s central theme may well be how civilization and morality can emerge out of barbarism. Hence this noble story of redemption, and of good arising from evil, is tuned into cinematic art, abetted by the highest level of black and white cinematography, acting and writing. The mother is played by the legendary Kinuyo Tanaka, one of the greatest of Japanese actresses. As Mizoguchi was a passionate advocate of feminism, evidenced in many of his films, he surely had Tanaka evoke the strongest feminine vulnerability through literally every pore. The adult Zushio is played by Yoshiaki Hanayagi and his sister Anju by Kyoko Kagawa, who appeared in the other Japanese masterpiece of the same period, Ozu’s Tokyo Story.

"The cinematographer is Kazuo Miyagawa, who also shot Kurosawa’s Rashomon, among others. The scenes of nature, and especially the ones of trees and water evoke the texture of classic paintings, and Mizoguchi’s famous use of the long-shot and extended take insures that the camera keeps a respectful distance from the action, a distancing effect which mutes acute emotion. Hence, the viewer is inclined to be more contemplative. The use of close-ups, limited in this film, would force an emotional reaction. The fact that Mizoguchi still negotiated such a response is testament to the power of the story. Contemporary Far East directors like Edward Yang and Hsaio-Hsien have effected the same cinematic style, and similarly it’s been successful.

"Unlike his great contemporary Ozu, however, Mizoguchi’s camera frequently moves to accommodate the action, as in that electrifying final sequence. In Gilbert Adair’s book Flickers, the author makes claim that Sansho Dayu 'is one of those films for whose sake the cinema exists – just as it perhaps exists for the sake of it’s own last scene.' The camera tracks Zushio, in exceeding long shot, as he walks along the beach from the elder sea-weed gatherer, to the place he now believes his mother to be living in destitution. After the tearful reunion the camera retreats, without Zushio, to rest upon the seaweed-gatherer again. Thus, it can be assumed that while a few experience life-altering events, business as usual is transpiring around the rest of the world."

~ Sam Juliano

Original title: Sanshô dayû
Principal cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa, Masao Shimizu, Atikake Kono, Rosuke Kagawa, Ken Mitsuda
Screenplay by Fuji Yahiro, Yoshikata Yoda
Based on the short story by Ogai Mori
Produced by Masaichi Nagara
Director of photography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Production design by Hiskazu Tsuji
Costume design by Shima Yoshimi
Film editing by Mitsuzo Miyata
Original music by Fumio Hayasaka, Kinshichi Kodera, Tamekichi Mochizuki
Makeup by Masanori Kobayashi
Hair stylist: Ritsu Hanai
Sound by Iwao Otani

Japan
Duration: 124 minutes
Languages: Japanese
Filmed in black and white
Sound mix: Mono
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Produced by Daiei Studios
Released in USA by Brandon Films
Premiered in Japan on 31 March 1954
USA release date: 1955

Awards and honors:
- Selected as one of Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies,” 20 October 2007
- Venice Film Festival, 1954: Silver Lion (won)
- Venice Film Festival, 1954: Golden Lion (nominated)